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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Somewhere, in East Vancouver, They're Cloning the Next Libby Davies

Somewhere in the offices of the Georgia Strait, Charlie Smith is looking for the next Libby Davies.

He seems to think that he's found her... or, in this case, him.

Smith is seemingly ready to annoint Ben West the heir apparent to the riding of Vancouver-East. West has built himself an accomplished (by Smith's standards) career as a political activist, having attached himself to seemingly every far-left political cause under the sun.

Right now, West is affiliated with the Wilderness Committee, a group dedicated to publicizing urban environmental issues.

Perusing Smith's loveletter to West, one question has clearly been ignored:

If Ben West is as impressive as Smith claims he is, why on Earth would he want to be the next Libby Davies?

Davies, after all, has consistently demonstrated that she is someone who simply just doesn't get it. She doesn't seem to get anything.

Whether it's voting against anti-human trafficking legislation out of her ideological opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing, or declaring Israel to be the longest occupation in history, Davies' dedication to various far-left dogmas has not given her the clairvoiance to help her party make desperately-needed inroads with centrist Canadians.

West, meanwhile, could potentially find such inroads. His accomplishment in making Metro Vancouver blink on its garbage incineration plans could potentially resonate well with NIMBY-thinking Canadians. It's certainly a legitimate concern.

There is one other reason West may not be the next Davies: he's currently affiliated with the Green Party, not the NDP.

Whatever Ben West may want to be, he should run screaming from Charlie Smith's efforts to annoint him as the next Libby Davies. Whatever West may end up being, he certainly deserves better than that.